Gratitude journal

After a spate of back-to-back disappointments when I felt I had tasted my Waterloo, I decided to bounce back. A well-meaning friend told me one way to do so is to keep a gratitude journal. It helps one rise from the ashes of despair like a beautiful Phoenix bird by chronicling a detailed conviction from the heart
of all the things one is genuinely grateful for.

How does this journal work? One should rise and shine in the morning with some activity, like a walk or workout. This can be followed by a session of chanting universal prayers or mantras and positive affirmations that are motivating and inspiring. After the ADLs (Activities of Daily Living), one’s mind is suffused with clarity, a perfect setting for making entries in the Gratitude Journal.

A gratitude journal serves to make major ameliorations in one’s attitude, perception, and mindset at no cost and with no side effects. Writing it all down in a journal, a diary, or a notebook helps reinforce it as one counts one’s blessings. It helps one override insecurities and fears by just showing that one has a lot going for them.

It is all the more beneficial in these current times when war has broken out in Ukraine and unrest is prevalent in various war zones, including our very own Kashmir. In such volatile situations, there’s much to say “thank you” for—for having a loving family, for having food on the table at meal times, and for having vocations and jobs to keep one gainfully employed.

A single mother of two children is a member of our WhatsApp Status Single group, where her daily life struggles and household chores are a story of revelation.

After dropping her two children off at a primary school, she goes to work, juggling two jobs.

One would expect her to be overworked and morose, but instead, she is cheerful and optimistic, as she jots down in her journal, “I’m grateful for two challenging jobs in a day and age when unemployment is at an all-time high. I am grateful to handle my children and don’t complain because they are healthy, friendly children, and they are a blessing to me.” Don’t we all have a lesson here to learn from these gratitude journal entries?

The world is indeed a poorer place if one doesn’t count one’s blessings.